Apparatus, system, and method of providing a stabilizing drive system for a robotic vehicle

ABSTRACT

An apparatus, system and method capable of providing a stabilizing drive system for a robotic vehicle. The apparatus, system and method may include at least a robot body base; at least two drive wheels within the robot body base; a processing system having non-transitory computing code associated therewith which, when executed by the processing system, causes to be driven the at least two drive wheels; and a plurality of ball casters within the robot body base, wherein the ball caster are positioned relative to the robot base and to the at least two drive wheels so as to lower a center of gravity of the robot and provide stabilization of the driving.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a national stage application of International PatentApplication No. PCT/US2019/025183, filed Apr. 1, 2019, entitled:APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD OF PROVIDING A STABILIZING DRIVE SYSTEMFOR A ROBOTIC VEHICLE, which claims the benefit to U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 62/650,852, filed Mar. 30, 2018, entitled APPARATUS,SYSTEM, AND METHOD OF PROVIDING A STABILIZING DRIVE SYSTEM FOR A ROBOTICVEHICLE, the entireties of which is incorporated herein by reference asif set forth in its entireties.

BACKGROUND Field of the Disclosure

The disclosure relates generally to robotics, and, more particularly, toan apparatus, system, and method of providing a stabilizing drive systemfor a robotic vehicle.

Background of the Disclosure

Autonomous mobile robots are becoming progressively more commonplace ina variety of settings. For example, autonomous mobile robots are used insecurity settings, such as for patrols; retail environments, such as forpurchase tracking and shopping monitoring; warehousing environments,such as for restocking and other alerts; and hazardous environments,such as to track for safe conditions. As such, autonomous mobilerobotics may encounter a variety of conditions and obstacles, bothstatic and dynamic, and may serve a variety of purposes.

Several of the foregoing and other alternative environments in whichautonomous mobile robotics typically operate may necessitate variationsin the size of the mobile robot. For example, it may be advantageous insome operational settings for a robot to be tall, such as so that therobot can “see” at a greater distance, better sense obstacles, orotherwise better perform its stated function, such as in a securitypatrol setting. However, it is typically the case that robots areautonomously driven by a set of drive wheels and a principally onboardnavigation system, and consequently the taller the robot is, the easierit is to tip the robot over and thereby cause the robot to stopperforming its function. Tipping may occur by a person affirmativelytipping the robot, the robot striking an obstacle that is sufficientlyhigh off the floor level to hit on the robot's body, thereby causing therobot to tip, or by the robot “tripping” over an object at or near floorlevel that causes the robot to tip over.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

The disclosure is and includes at least an apparatus, system and methodcapable of providing a stabilizing drive system for a robotic vehicle.The apparatus, system and method may include at least a robot body base;at least two drive wheels within the robot body base; a processingsystem having non-transitory computing code associated therewith which,when executed by the processing system, causes to be driven the at leasttwo drive wheels; and a plurality of ball casters within the robot bodybase, wherein the ball caster are positioned relative to the robot baseand to the at least two drive wheels so as to lower a center of gravityof the robot and provide stabilization of the driving.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The disclosure is illustrated by way of example and not limitation inthe accompanying drawings, in which like references indicate similarelements, and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary robotic device;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary robotic device;

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary robotic device;

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary robotic device drive system;

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary robotic device drive system;

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary ball caster and ball caster frame; and

FIG. 7 illustrates a processing system for use with a mobile roboticdevice.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The figures and descriptions provided herein may have been simplified toillustrate aspects that are relevant for a clear understanding of theherein described devices, systems, and methods, while eliminating, forthe purpose of clarity, other aspects that may be found in typicalsimilar devices, systems, and methods. Those of ordinary skill mayrecognize that other elements and/or operations may be desirable and/ornecessary to implement the devices, systems, and methods describedherein. But because such elements and operations are well known in theart, and because they do not facilitate a better understanding of thepresent disclosure, a discussion of such elements and operations may notbe provided herein. However, the present disclosure is deemed toinherently include all such elements, variations, and modifications tothe described aspects that would be known to those of ordinary skill inthe art.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularexample embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. Forexample, as used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” may beintended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearlyindicates otherwise. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “including,”and “having,” are inclusive and therefore specify the presence of statedfeatures, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, butdo not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features,integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groupsthereof. The method steps, processes, and operations described hereinare not to be construed as necessarily requiring their performance inthe particular order discussed or illustrated, unless specificallyidentified as an order of performance. It is also to be understood thatadditional or alternative steps may be employed.

When an element or layer is referred to as being “on”, “engaged to”,“connected to” or “coupled to” another element or layer, it may bedirectly on, engaged, connected or coupled to the other element orlayer, or intervening elements or layers may be present. In contrast,when an element is referred to as being “directly on,” “directly engagedto”, “directly connected to” or “directly coupled to” another element orlayer, there may be no intervening elements or layers present. Otherwords used to describe the relationship between elements should beinterpreted in a like fashion (e.g., “between” versus “directlybetween,” “adjacent” versus “directly adjacent,” etc.). As used herein,the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more ofthe associated listed items.

Although the terms first, second, third, etc., may be used herein todescribe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections,these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should notbe limited by these terms. These terms may be only used to distinguishone element, component, region, layer or section from another element,component, region, layer or section. That is, terms such as “first,”“second,” and other numerical terms, when used herein, do not imply asequence or order unless clearly indicated by the context. Thus, a firstelement, component, region, layer or section discussed below could betermed a second element, component, region, layer or section withoutdeparting from the teachings of the exemplary embodiments.

Processor-implemented modules, systems and methods of use are disclosedherein that may provide access to and transformation of a plurality oftypes of digital content, including but not limited to video, image,text, audio, metadata, algorithms, interactive and document content, andwhich track, deliver, manipulate, transform and report the accessedcontent. Described embodiments of these modules, systems and methods areintended to be exemplary and not limiting. As such, it is contemplatedthat the herein described systems and methods may be adapted and may beextended to provide enhancements and/or additions to the exemplarymodules, systems and methods described. The disclosure is thus intendedto include all such extensions.

The embodiments include at least an improved drive mechanism for anautonomous mobile robot. The improved drive system improves the abilityof the robot to overcome and/or avoid obstacles that might otherwisecause the robot to tip over. This may be accomplished by a number ofaspects provided in the embodiments, including improving the center ofgravity of even a tall mobile robot by lowering the center of gravity,and providing stabilizing, substantially cornered caster ball wheels, inaddition to the drive train wheels typically provided in most mobilerobots.

More particularly, the provided embodiments, in part through theprovision of the aforementioned additional corner casters, may lower thecenter of gravity of a tall robot by adding distributed weight about thebase of the robot, thereby providing a more stable base upon which themobile robot operates. Further, at least four ball casters may beprovided, such as one ball caster proximate to each corner of arectangular robot base, in addition to the at least two drive wheelsthat drive the robot. Drive wheels may operate through the use of dualsimultaneous forward rotation to move the robot forward, dualsimultaneous reverse operation to move the robot backwards, andstaggered rotational operation to turn the robot left and right, as willbe understood to the skilled artisan.

Of note, the placement of the ball casters within the base proximate tothe corners of the mobile robot does not necessitate that any extraspace be devoted to the casters, contrary to the added stabilizingwheels in the known art, which are placed external to the base, therebyincreasing the robot's footprint. In operation, the ball caster cornersmay allow for the robot to scoot in a forward, backward, left, right, orcorner direction in order to avoid tip over, even if either or both ofthe drive wheels lose traction. Further, the presence of ball casters atthe corners allows for rotation of the base of the robot about any oneor more of the corner ball casters, consequently making the base morestable than in the known art.

For example, the aforementioned stability may allow a tall robot's upperstalk to tip by up to 45°, with only one ball caster still in contactwith the floor, without tipping over. By way of further example, thepresence of the ball casters may prevent tipping of a mobile robothaving the disclosed corner ball casters, as long as two of the ballcasters are present in contact with floor level, even if the upperportion of the robot is tipped by 60° or more.

Yet further, the chances that an undetected obstacle on the floor wouldtip the robot are appreciably decreased in the embodiments. This is thecase at least because the casters provide additional degrees of freedomfor the robot to rise and fall over obstacles without tipping, andallows for the robot to scoot over or angularly slide (such as wherein acorner is lifted) around obstacles at or near floor level.

It may be noted that, in some embodiments, the casters may be indifferent positions within the base based on where the casters are inrelation to the typical forward and reverse motion of the robot. By wayof example, casters at the “rear” of the robot may be farther towardsthe outer perimeter of the base of the robot than are the castersassociated with the “front” of the robot. This may be the case becausecasters in the front of the robot may need to move inwardly along thebase to account for the outward extension of a bumper or similar safetymechanism from the base of the robot at the front portion thereof. Inany case, ball casters may be placed as close to the corners of the baseof the robot as is possible in order to maximize stability of the drivesystem of the robot.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary robot 100 in accordance with theembodiments. The illustrated robot 100 has a tall robot stalk 102associated with a robot midsection 104, and a robot base 106 havingtherewithin a drive system 108 to move the robot 100 at least in theforward or reverse directions. Of course, it will be appreciated thatthe drive system 108 may also move the robot in both forward andreverse, and/or may move the robot left and/or right, without departingfrom this disclosure.

Associated with the stalk 102 of the robot, and/or the midsection 104 ofthe robot, may be one or more drive assistance systems 112, such as mayinclude one or more sensors, cameras, or the like 170, which providedata that allows for the robot 100 to navigate autonomously. Furtherassociated with the stalk 102 and/or the midsection 104 of the robot 100may be one or more processing systems 312 that may, as part of the driveassistance system 112 and in conjunction with the referenced sensingsystems 170, navigate or otherwise safely operate the robot 100 based onone or more operational algorithms. These one or more processing systems312 may be fully on board the robot 100, may perform shared processingwith processing systems off-board the robot, such as via wirelesscommunication between the robot processing system 312 and the off boardprocessing system, or may be fully off board the robot, as is discussedfurther hereinbelow.

As referenced, the robot base 106 may include at least one drive system108 for the robot 100. As part of this drive system 108, the illustratedrobot base 106 includes corner casters 120 proximate to the four cornersof the substantially rectangular robot base 106, and two drive wheels122, one on the left side and one on the right side of the forwardmotion axis of the robot. It will be understood that additional castersmay be included beyond the four corner casters 120 illustrated in FIG.1, and the number of casters may be dependent upon the shape of therobot base. Moreover, it will be understood that more than two drivewheels 122 may be associated with the robot, such as in embodimentshaving two wheels to drive forward and reverse, and two or more turningwheels suitable to provide an improved turning radius to the robot.

It will be appreciated that the drive wheels 122 will typically beaffirmatively mechanically rotated, such as at the command of processingsystem 312. So, too, may be the ball casters 120 or similar stabilizingwheels or casters in accordance with the embodiments, although, intypical embodiments, the ball casters 120 may be passive, i.e., solelyreactive, in nature.

Also evident in FIG. 1 is a bumper mechanism 128 at the “front” of therobot base 106. This bumper 128 may improve the safety of operation ofthe robot 100 in the forward direction, such as by limiting damage tothe robot in the event an obstacle is encountered for both static anddynamic obstacles. However, it will be understood that a robot 100 inaccordance with the disclosure needn't include such a bumper 128.

FIG. 2 illustrates a bottom view from beneath the base 106, i.e., thebase 106 is viewed upwardly from the floor surface on which the robotoperates, for the robot 100 illustrated in FIG. 1. As is evident in FIG.2, the rectangular base 106 (shown by way of example) has four ballcasters 120 associated with the base 106 substantially at the cornersthereof, and has two drive wheels 122 proximate to the left and rightsides of forward direction for the robot 100. As shown, the drive system108 may have one or more electrical, mechanical, and/orelectromechanical elements associated therewith to allow for affirmativeactuation of at least the drive wheels 122 for the robot 100 providedwithin the base 106.

The embodiments are further illustrated with respect to the exemplaryembodiment of FIG. 3. The illustrated embodiment again shows theassociation of four ball casters 120 proximate to the corners of therectangular base 106 of the robot 100, and two drive wheels 122 havingassociated mechanicals and electricals connected thereto suitable todrive the robot 100.

As is again apparent in the illustration of FIG. 3, the “front” ballcasters 120 a may be more substantially inset from the front of the base106 than are the rear ball casters 120 b from the rear of the base 106,such as to accommodate a safety bumper mechanism 128 with the front ofthe robot base 106. Also evident is one or more frames 202 in which theball casters 120 may ride, and such frames 202 may allow not only forrotation of the ball casters 120 therewithin, but may also allow for anupward and downward movement of the ball casters 120 in the Z axisdirection within each respective frame 202. In embodiments wherein theball casters 120 may move upward and downward, it will be understoodthat a suspension system 302 may be provided in association with theframe(s) 202, such as in the way of “shock absorbers”, such that theball casters 120 may move more readily in the Z axis.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary suspension system 302 suitable to holdtherein one or more frames 202 into which the disclosed ball casters 120may be placed. As shown, the suspension system 302 that allows formovement of the ball casters 120 in the Z axis may be spring-based,although it will be understood that other suspension system types, suchas hydraulic- or pneumatic-based suspension systems, may be employedwithout departing from the disclosure.

Further and as illustrated, the suspension system 302 provided for eachball caster 120 and associated frame 202 may operate independently fromother suspension systems, or may be operationally associated with thesuspension systems of other ball casters. Such an operationalassociation may include, by way of non-limiting example, a distributionof the ball caster frames 202 across a unitary underbody frame 306 atthe lowermost portion of the robot's underside. Of course, this unitaryunderbody frame 306 may perform other functions, such as protecting theunderside of the robot from damage, particulate, moisture, and so on.

FIG. 5 illustrates the exemplary association of one or more ball casters120 with ball caster frames 202 that respectively may or may not ridewithin a unitary base frame 306. Ones of the ball caster frames 202 mayhave associated therewith a suspension system 302. By way of example,only the “front” ball casters 120 may have Z-axis suspension system 302associated therewith, although it will be understood that the “rear”wheels may additionally have a suspension associated therewith.

FIG. 6 illustrates a ball caster 120, in accordance with theembodiments, within a ball caster frame 202 that allows formultidirectional operation of the ball caster 120. As illustrated, theball caster 120 may reside within an enclosed or partially enclosedframe 202. The frame 202 may have a sufficiently low coefficient offriction so as to allow free rotation of the ball caster 120therewithin. Of course, it will be understood that any of numerousmechanisms to allow for free rotation of the ball caster 120 within theframe 202 may be provided by the frame 202 without departing from thedisclosure, such as the use of ball bearings within the frame 202, byway of non-limiting example.

FIG. 7 depicts an exemplary computer processing system 312 for use inassociation with the embodiments, by way of non-limiting example.Processing system 312 is capable of executing software, such as anoperating system (OS) and one or more computing algorithms/applications490, such as those for the processing of inputs received from sensors170. The operation of exemplary processing system 312 is controlledprimarily by these computer readable instructions/code 490, such asinstructions stored in a computer readable storage medium, such as harddisk drive (HDD) 415, optical disk (not shown) such as a CD or DVD,solid state drive (not shown) such as a USB “thumb drive,” or the like.Such instructions may be executed within central processing unit (CPU)410 to cause system 312 to perform the disclosed operations, comparisonsand navigation calculations. In many known computer servers,workstations, personal computers, and the like, CPU 410 is implementedin an integrated circuit called a processor.

It is appreciated that, although exemplary processing system 312 isshown to comprise a single CPU 410, such description is merelyillustrative, as processing system 312 may comprise a plurality of CPUs410. Additionally, system 312 may exploit the resources of remote CPUs(not shown) through communications network 470 or some other datacommunications means 480, as discussed above.

In operation, CPU 410 fetches, decodes, and executes instructions from acomputer readable storage medium such as HDD 415. Such instructions maybe included in software such as an operating system (OS), executableprograms/applications 490, and the like. Information, such as computerinstructions and other computer readable data, is transferred betweencomponents of system 312 via the system's main data-transfer path. Themain data-transfer path may use a system bus architecture 405, althoughother computer architectures (not shown) can be used.

Memory devices coupled to system bus 405 may include random accessmemory (RAM) 425 and/or read only memory (ROM) 430, by way of example.Such memories include circuitry that allows information to be stored andretrieved. ROMs 430 generally contain stored data that cannot bemodified. Data stored in RAM 425 can be read or changed by CPU 410 orother hardware devices. Access to RAM 425 and/or ROM 430 may becontrolled by memory controller 420.

In addition, processing system 312 may contain peripheral communicationscontroller and bus 435, which is responsible for communicatinginstructions from CPU 410 to, and/or receiving data from, peripherals,such as peripherals 440, 445, and 450, which may include printers,keyboards, and/or the elements discussed herein throughout. An exampleof a peripheral bus is the Peripheral

Component Interconnect (PCI) bus that is well known in the pertinentart.

Display 460, which is controlled by display controller 455, may be usedto display visual output and/or presentation data generated by or at therequest of processing system 312, responsive to operation of theaforementioned computing programs/applications 490. Such visual outputmay include text, graphics, animated graphics, and/or video, forexample. Display 460 may be implemented with a CRT-based video display,an LCD or LED-based display, a gas plasma-based flat-panel display, atouch-panel display, or the like. Display controller 455 includeselectronic components required to generate a video signal that is sentto display 460.

Further, processing system 312 may contain network adapter 465 which maybe used to couple to external communication network 470, which mayinclude or provide access to the Internet, an intranet, an extranet, orthe like. Communications network 470 may provide access for processingsystem 312 with means of communicating and transferring software andinformation electronically. Additionally, communications network 470 mayprovide for distributed processing, which involves several computers andthe sharing of workloads or cooperative efforts in performing a task, asdiscussed above. Network adaptor 465 may communicate to and from network470 using any available wired or wireless technologies. Suchtechnologies may include, by way of non-limiting example, cellular,Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, infrared, or the like.

In the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that variousfeatures are grouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose ofclarity and brevity of the disclosure. This method of disclosure is notto be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the embodimentsrequire more features than are expressly recited herein. Rather, thedisclosure is to encompass all variations and modifications to thedisclosed embodiments that would be understood to the skilled artisan inlight of the disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A drive system for a robot, comprising: a robotbody base; at least two drive wheels within the robot body base; aprocessing system having non-transitory computing code associatedtherewith which, when executed by the processing system, causes to bedriven the at least two drive wheels; and a plurality of ball casterswithin the robot body base, wherein the ball caster are positionedrelative to the robot base and to the at least two drive wheels so as tolower a center of gravity of the robot and provide stabilization of thedriving.
 2. The drive system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of ballcasters comprises four ball casters, and wherein the positioning of theball casters comprises proximate to corners of the robot body base. 3.The drive system of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of framesmounted within the robot body base for receiving the plurality of ballcasters.
 4. The drive system of claim 3, wherein the plurality of framescomprise low coefficients of friction so as to allow free rotation ofthe plurality of ball casters.
 5. The drive system of claim 4, whereinthe low coefficients of friction are provided by one of a smooth surfaceand ball bearings.
 6. The drive system of claim 3, further comprising aunitary under-body frame, wherein ones of the plurality of frames arephysically associated with the unitary under-body frame.
 7. The drivesystem of claim 3, further comprising one or more suspension systemsphysically associated with ones of the plurality of frames.
 8. The drivesystem of claim 7, wherein the one or more suspension systems arespring-based.
 9. The drive system of claim 7, wherein one or more of thesuspension systems are hydraulics-based.
 10. The drive system of claim1, wherein the robot body base further comprises a front bumper, andwherein at least ones of the plurality of ball casters at a front of therobot body base are inset from the front bumper.
 11. The drive system ofclaim 1, wherein the stabilizing comprises a tip by up to 45° withoutdestabilization with at least one of the plurality of ball casters stillin contact with a floor surface.
 12. The drive system of claim 1,wherein the stabilizing comprises a tip by up to 60° withoutdestabilization with at least two of the plurality of ball casters stillin contact with a floor surface.
 13. The drive system of claim 1,wherein the driving comprises forward and reverse.
 14. The drive systemof claim 1, wherein the plurality of ball casters is passively driven.15. The drive system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of ball castersis actively driven.
 16. The drive system of claim 1, further comprisinga plurality of sensors to which the processing system is responsive. 17.The drive system of claim 16, wherein the plurality of sensors compriseat least cameras.
 18. The drive system of claim 1, wherein the drivingcomprises an autonomous navigation.
 19. The drive system of claim 1,wherein the processing system is partially off-board the robot.
 20. Thedrive system of claim 1, wherein the at least two drive wheels comprisetwo forward and reverse drive wheels, and two turning drive wheels.